What is the average value in ohms for the body's resistance?

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When estimating electrical shock risk, you use Ohm’s law and a representative body resistance to predict the current that could flow through a person. The commonly used average value is about 1.5 kilo-ohms (1500 ohms). This mid-point reflects typical conditions where skin isn’t extremely dry or extremely wet and the contact area is ordinary, providing a practical baseline for safety calculations.

Remember, the body’s resistance isn’t fixed. Wet skin can drop the resistance to a few hundred ohms, increasing the current, while very dry skin or a small contact area can push resistance higher than 2 kilo-ohms. Using about 1.5 kilo-ohms helps balance these variations and gives a reasonable estimate for hazard assessments. The other values fall outside this standard average and aren’t used as the conventional reference in safety calculations.